Katz’s Deli Goes Through 15,000 Pounds Of Pastrami For Their “Pastrami On Rye” Sandwich – Each Week

Pastrami lovers across the country look forward to their favorite sandwich on January 14th as they recognize National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day.

• 1880s – Lithuanian Immigrant Sussman Volk began selling pastrami from his butcher shop on the Lower East Side.
• 1888 – Volk starts serving pastrami on rye bread. New York classic Katz’s Delicatessen is also established.
• 1930s – New York experiences a peak of about 1,500 Jewish delicatessens due to its growing population.
• 1960s – In Salt Lake City, Greek immigrants introduced a hamburger topped with pastrami and a special sauce in the early 1960s. This pastrami burger remains a staple of local burger chains in Utah.
• 1962 – The Dartells in 1962 recorded a hit song called Hot Pastrami.  It peaked at #11 on the U.S. pop charts in 1963.
• 1963 – Joey Dee and the Starlighters released a song Hot Pastrami with Mashed Potatoes.
• 1989 – The pastrami on rye at Katz’s Delicatessen comes into the national spotlight with the hit comedy “When Harry Met Sally.”
• A popular delicatessen meat, pastrami is usually made from beef. Others make their pastrami sandwich with pork, mutton or turkey. Before refrigeration, butchers originally created pastrami to preserve meat.
• A wave of Romanian Jewish immigration introduced pastrami (pronounced pastróme), a Romanian specialty, in the second half of the 19th century.
• Early English references used the spelling “pastrama” before the modified “pastrami” spelling was used.
• When served, the deli typically slices the pastrami and places it between two rye bread slices.
• When pastrami and coleslaw combine, it’s called a Rachel sandwich. Similar to a Reuben, which is made with corned beef and sauerkraut.
• A common myth is that pastrami is an entirely American invention. While pastrami sandwiches did originate in the U.S., the meat itself has roots in Eastern Europe.
• Another myth holds that pastrami was invented as a “health food” because of its protein content. In reality, it’s preserved meat created to last longer without refrigeration—nutrition wasn’t a primary goal!
• In Los Angeles, they serve the classic pastrami sandwich with hot pastrami right out of the steamer. They slice it very thin and wet from the brine then layered on double-baked Jewish-style rye bread. It is traditionally accompanied by yellow mustard and pickles.
• Turkey pastrami is made by processing turkey breast (pale pink) or thigh (dark pink) in a fashion similar to red meat pastrami, simulating the corresponding red meat deli product.
• Pastrami is a technology for preserving meat that our ancestors used before refrigerators.
• To make pastrami, you start by making corned beef. By smoking corned beef, you turn it into pastrami! Smoking adds flavor to the meat.
• Katz’s Deli is the oldest surviving New York deli and is famous for its stuffed pastrami sandwiches.
• One of the most famous movie scenes in history featured pastrami, as Billy Crystal enjoyed a pastrami sandwich during the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene which was shot at Katz’s Deli in New York (though she was having a turkey sandwich.) Crystal says he kept enjoying the pastrami between takes during filming
• The star of this historic deli is their Pastrami on Rye sandwich! Katz’s Deli goes through 15,000 pounds of pastrami each week
• The pastrami sandwich is a central character in the recent documentary Deli Man.
• In New York, the deli business isn’t for the faint of heart.  The show Food Wars dedicated an episode to the New York Pastrami Wars.
•  “There could be no picture-making without pastrami,” the director and pastrami fan Orson Welles once declared.
• Warsaw, Poland, hosts an annual pastrami festival each June, where pastrami is served in traditional and novel ways, such as with hummus and asparagus, and in a seasonal pastrami salad with asparagus and strawberries.
• Jewish food festivals nationwide from Savannah to San Diego showcase New York-style pastrami.
• In a fusion of Asian and deli cuisine, the Brooklyn Wok Shop in Brooklyn, New York, serves pastrami dumplings.
• Similarly, popular San Francisco and New York restaurant Mission Chinese Food offers a Kung Pao Pastrami which is one of its most popular dishes.
• Empellon Tacqueria in New York serves Pastrami Tacos.
• Smoked & Stacked DC features pastrami prominently on its menu, even at breakfast. Restaurant goers can enjoy the New Yorker, a breakfast sandwich of pastrami, comte cheese, sweet and spicy pepper jelly and an egg on a soft milk-bread bun.
• The world pastrami eating record is held by American Joey Chestnut, who won by eating 25 pastrami sandwiches (7 ounces each) in the span of 10 minutes.
• Two different songs about pastrami were recorded in the 1960s. Hot Pastrami (1962) by The Dartells, and Hot Pastrami with Mashed Potatoes (1963) by Joey Dee and the Starlighters.
• The Travel Channel’s Food Wars show dedicated an entire episode to this sandwich, all about the New York Pastrami Wars.

Sources:

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